Earnings, politics take spotlight

Earnings reports dominate the calendar this week, though events in Washington remain the market's main potential catalyst.

Investors are hoping House Republicans will strike a deal with the White House to raise the country's debt ceiling and eventually reopen the federal government. Headlines on either situation could affect sentiment.

The only economic release scheduled for today is Eurozone industrial production early in the morning.

Tomorrow brings Germany's Zew survey of economic confidence and the New York Federal Reserve's Empire State index. Blue-chip companies such as Citigroup, Johnson & Johnson, and Coca-Cola issue quarterly results in the morning, followed by Intel and Yahoo in the afternoon. JB Hunt Transport services, which has seen bullish call buying in recent weeks, also reports before the opening bell.

Wednesday's data includes weekly mortgage applications and the Fed's Beige book survey of economic conditions. Bank of America, BlackRock and U.S. Bancorp report in the morning. American Express, eBay, IBM, and SanDisk report in the afternoon.

Thursday brings weekly jobless claims, the Philadelphia Fed's regional index, and several key Chinese economic figures in the evening. It's also packed with earnings from companies including Goldman Sachs, UnitedHealth, Union Pacific, and Verizon. The afternoon features Google, Capital One, and Intuitive Surgical.

No economic reports are scheduled Friday, but earnings come from names including Morgan Stanley, General Electric, Honeywell, Ingersoll-Rand, Schlumberger, and Textron.

If the government reopens, economic reports for earlier periods could also be released at irregular times during the week.